How popular is the baby name Riley in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Riley.

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Popularity of the baby name Riley


Posts that mention the name Riley

Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2017

Which girl names increased the most in popularity from 2016 to 2017? And which ones decreased the most?

There are a few different ways to answer this question. The SSA, for instance, likes to look at ranking differences within the top 1,000. And I like to augment their list by looking at raw number differences across all the data.

So let’s look at increases first…

Girl Names: Biggest Increases, 2016 to 2017

Rankings

1. Ensley, +1,461 spots
2. Oaklynn, +1,072
3. Dream, +840
4. Oaklyn, +749
5. Melania, +720
6. Emberly, +616
7. Octavia, +435
8. Paisleigh, +364
9. Yara, +352
10. Kehlani, +347

Melania was influenced by the First Lady. Dream was influenced by the latest Kardashian baby.

Raw Numbers

1. Luna, +1,657 babies
2. Mila, +1,123
3. Amelia, +1,047
4. Bella, +957
5. Nova, +748
6. Camila, +704
7. Elena, +685
8. Kinsley, +669
9. Everly, +616
10. Aurora, +590

Camila might have been influenced by Camila Cabello (“Havana ooh na-na…”).

Other names that saw raw number increases in the 300+ range included Raelynn, Willow, Amara, Isla, Samara, and Leilani.

And now let’s check out decreases…

Girl Names: Biggest Decreases, 2016 to 2017

Rankings

1. Julianne, -263 spots
2. Wendy, -243
3. Milania, -241
4. Montserrat, -225
5. Nathaly, -225
6. Jayden, -204
7. Jessa, -201
8. Tenley, -198
9. Aryana, -184
10. Ciara, -183

Looks like Melania stole a lot of attention away from Milania in 2017.

Raw Numbers

1. Sophia, -1,281 babies
2. Emily, -1,211
3. Abigail, -1,196
4. Madison, -1,167
5. Sofia, -1,027
6. Mia, -978
7. Alexa, -883
8. Riley, -788
9. Brooklyn, -774
10. Lily, -769

Alexa was no doubt adversely affected by the prevalence of Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa.

Other names that saw raw number drops in the (negative) 300+ range included Kylie, Natalie, Taylor, Morgan, Piper, Trinity, and Harper.

Do you have any explanations for the name movement above? If so, please comment!

Sources: Change in Popularity, SSA, Emma and Liam Top Social Security’s Most Popular Baby Names for 2017

Popular baby names in College Station (Texas), 2017

Flag of Texas
Flag of Texas

According to the City of College Station (which is located in east-central Texas), the most popular baby names in the city in 2017 were Ava and Jayden.

Here are College Station’s top 3 girl names and top 3 boy names of 2017:

Girl Names
1. Ava, 16 baby girls
2. Emma, 14
3. Camila & Charlotte, 13 each (tie)

Boy Names
1. Jayden, 18 baby boys
2. Elijah & Jackson, 15 each (tie)
3. Noah, 12

The most popular middle names were Grace, Rose, and Marie (for girls) and James, Alexander, and Wayne (for boys).

Some of the less-common College Station baby names included Kansas, Temper, Fable, Joy Peace, and Liv Tyler.

In 2016, the top two names were Riley and Aiden.

Sources: Jayden, Ava CS’s most popular baby names in 2017, Aiden, Riley CS’s most-popular baby names in 2016

Image: Adapted from Flag of Texas (public domain)

Popular baby names in New York City, 2016

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

According to New York City’s Health Department, the most popular baby names in the city last year were Olivia and Liam.

Here are New York City’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2016:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 564 baby girls
  2. Sophia, 557
  3. Emma, 525
  4. Isabella, 469
  5. Mia, 468
  6. Ava, 450
  7. Emily, 388
  8. Leah, 348
  9. Sarah, 338
  10. Madison, 325
  11. Charlotte, 320 (tie)
  12. Sofia, 320 (tie)
  13. Chloe, 314
  14. Abigail, 285
  15. Rachel, 269
  16. Victoria, 256
  17. Amelia, 254
  18. Esther, 248
  19. Zoe, 244
  20. Maya, 239
  21. Elizabeth, 220
  22. Grace, 213
  23. Camila, 197 (tie)
  24. Ella, 197 (tie)
  25. Sara, 196
  26. Riley, 189
  27. Chaya, 183
  28. Valentina, 182
  29. Ariana, 177
  30. Hannah, 169
  31. Chana, 166 (tie)
  32. Miriam, 166 (tie)
  33. Hailey, 164
  34. Gabriella, 158
  35. Ashley, 157 (tie)
  36. Penelope, 157 (tie)
  37. Scarlett, 156
  38. Layla, 152
  39. Alexandra, 149
  40. Evelyn, 145
  41. Samantha, 142
  42. Mila, 141
  43. Aria, 139
  44. Avery, 138 (tie)
  45. Zoey, 138 (tie)
  46. Alice, 137 (tie)
  47. Arianna, 137 (tie)
  48. Eva, 135 (tie)
  49. Kayla, 135 (tie)
  50. Alexa, 134

Boy names

  1. Liam, 710 baby boys
  2. Jacob, 696
  3. Ethan, 690
  4. Noah, 631
  5. Aiden, 536
  6. Matthew, 535
  7. Daniel, 522
  8. Lucas, 503
  9. Michael, 502
  10. Dylan, 495
  11. David, 479
  12. Alexander, 476
  13. Jayden, 464
  14. Ryan, 437
  15. Joseph, 421
  16. Sebastian, 396
  17. Mason, 395
  18. James, 383
  19. Benjamin, 379
  20. Joshua, 328
  21. Samuel, 326
  22. William, 304
  23. Christopher, 303
  24. Isaac, 301
  25. Aaron, 296
  26. Henry, 295
  27. Anthony, 292 (tie)
  28. Gabriel, 292 (tie)
  29. Adam, 280
  30. Logan, 276 (tie)
  31. Nicholas, 276 (tie)
  32. Oliver, 270
  33. Elijah, 264
  34. John, 263
  35. Nathan, 249
  36. Andrew, 247
  37. Moshe, 242
  38. Jonathan, 241
  39. Julian, 238
  40. Jack, 227
  41. Abraham, 224
  42. Adrian, 222 (tie)
  43. Justin, 222 (tie)
  44. Leo, 220
  45. Christian, 206 (tie)
  46. Josiah, 206 (tie)
  47. Jeremiah, 202
  48. Angel, 200
  49. Muhammad, 193
  50. Eli, 188 (4-way tie)
  51. Ian, 188 (4-way tie)
  52. Jason, 188 (4-way tie)
  53. Kevin, 188 (4-way tie)

The top baby names within specific ethnic/racial groups were…

Top girl namesTop boy names
Hispanic1. Isabella, 276
2. Sophia, 261
3. Mia, 228
4. Emma, 197
5. Camila, 180		1. Liam, 387
2. Jacob, 351
3. Dylan, 312
4. Matthew, 297
5. Noah, 269
Asian and Pacific Islander1. Olivia, 172
2. Chloe, 112
3. Sophia, 104
4. Emily, 99 (tie)
5. Emma, 99 (tie)		1. Ethan, 193
2. Ryan, 160
3. Muhammad, 157
4. Lucas, 148
5. Jayden, 138
Non-Hispanic White1. Olivia, 230
2. Rachel, 221
3. Esther, 209
4. Sarah, 202
5. Emma, 201		1. Joseph, 261
2. Michael, 260
3. David, 255
4. Moshe, 239
5. Jacob, 236
Non-Hispanic Black1. Ava, 109
2. Madison, 104
3. Skylar, 68
4. Riley, 65
5. Aaliyah, 57		1. Noah, 148
2. Aiden, 137
3. Elijah, 116
4. Liam, 108
5. Ethan, 107

Among the names given to just 10 babies each in NYC last year were the girl names Amberly, Florence, Jannatul, Paloma, and Thalia, and the boy names Henri, Ibraheem, Mordche, Oumar, and Terry.

One year earlier, in 2015, NYC’s top names (overall) were Olivia and Ethan.

Sources (all originally from NYC.gov):

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

[Latest update: Nov. 2025]

Most popular first letters for baby names, 2016

What were the most popular first letters for baby names in 2016?

Here’s a chart showing the first letter breakdown for girl names:

first letter, girl names, baby names, 2016, chart

For girls, the most-used first letter was A, followed by M and E. The least-used first letter was U.

The three most-used girl names per letter last year were…

A: Ava, Abigail, Amelia
B: Brooklyn, Bella, Brianna
C: Charlotte, Chloe, Camila
D: Delilah, Daisy, Daniela
E: Emma, Emily, Evelyn
F: Faith, Finley, Fiona
G: Grace, Genesis, Gabriella
H: Harper, Hannah, Hazel
I: Isabella, Isabelle, Ivy
J: Julia, Josephine, Jade
K: Kennedy, Kaylee, Kylie
L: Lily, Lillian, Layla
M: Mia, Madison, Mila
N: Natalie, Nora, Naomi
O: Olivia, Olive, Oakley
P: Penelope, Paisley, Piper
Q: Quinn, Queen, Quincy
R: Riley, Ruby, Reagan
S: Sophia, Sofia, Scarlett
T: Taylor, Trinity, Teagan
U: Unique, Uma, Una
V: Victoria, Violet, Vivian
W: Willow, Willa, Winter
X: Ximena, Xiomara, Xena
Y: Yaretzi, Yareli, Yamileth
Z: Zoey, Zoe, Zara

Here’s the breakdown for boy names:

first letter, boy names, baby names, 2016, chart

For boys, the most-used first letter was J, followed by A and C. The least-used letter was U.

The three most-used boy names per letter last year were…

A: Alexander, Aiden, Anthony
B: Benjamin, Brayden, Bryson
C: Carter, Christopher, Caleb
D: Daniel, David, Dylan
E: Elijah, Ethan, Eli
F: Finn, Felix, Francisco
G: Gabriel, Grayson, Gavin
H: Henry, Hunter, Hudson
I: Isaac, Isaiah, Ian
J: James, Jacob, Jackson
K: Kevin, Kayden, Kingston
L: Liam, Lucas, Logan
M: Mason, Michael, Matthew
N: Noah, Nathan, Nicholas
O: Oliver, Owen, Oscar
P: Parker, Patrick, Preston
Q: Quinn, Quentin, Quincy
R: Ryan, Robert, Roman
S: Samuel, Sebastian, Sawyer
T: Thomas, Theodore, Tyler
U: Uriel, Uriah, Ulises
V: Vincent, Victor, Valentino
W: William, Wyatt, Wesley
X: Xavier, Xander, Xzavier
Y: Yusuf, Yosef, Yahir
Z: Zachary, Zayden, Zane

Finally, here are both genders side-by-side:

first letter, baby names, 2016, chart

Overall, the top first letter was A, followed by J and M. And the least popular letter was, of course, U.

Here’s last year’s post on the most and least popular first letters of 2015.